Giro preview: Stages 1-2

It’s here, it’s here, it’s really, really here! Grand tour numero uno and the most elegant of them all: the Giro d’Italia. Don some pink, make like a tifosi and let’s follow the peloton from San Lorenzo al Mare to Milan. Vai! Vai!

The Giro kicks off with a team time trial in classic Milan-San Remo territory. #IAMEXCITE! The teams ride out along the route of an old railway line turned bike path, which is sandwiched between the Mediterranean and the road that leads over the Poggio and Cipressa. It’s flat and relatively non-technical, but it is narrow, so the teams need to watch out! Expect Orica-GreenEDGE to be gunning for the best time and, with it, the first maglia rosa.

Stage 1 route; Giro 2015

Check out what the riders will be seeing this afternoon on that bike path.

Sunday 10th May: Stage 2 – Albenga to Genova, flat, 177km

Look at that profile: two little bumps and a long run-in – it screams bunch sprint. The first week of a grand tour and a nervy peloton facing its first fast and furious finish also screams crashes. With all that screaming, the peloton needs to watch out for the few big corners on the finishing circuit in Genova (although there’s only one just after the flamme rouge). Hold on to your hats as the sprinters vie to take the win.